Route announced for Prudential RideLondon-Surrey

The routes were announced today for the Prudential RideLondon events in London and Surrey on Sunday 10 August, part of the Mayor of London’s multi-award winning world-class festival of cycling.

The day begins with the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 as 24,000 riders gather in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to start in waves from 06:00, ride out through London to the beautiful country roads and hills of Surrey before returning to the capital for a spectacular finish on The Mall in St James’s Park. The mass-participation sportive is followed by the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic at 13:00, a race for 150 of the world’s top professional male riders.

In its first year, riders in the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 raised more than £7 million for charity, setting a new record for a UK one-day cycling event. In 2014, organisers have set the ambitious fundraising target of £12 million.

The route for the sportive will remain essentially the same as 2013, with minor changes that showcase the new market place in Kingston and enable better road access to towns and villages along the route such as Dorking, Leatherhead and Esher. The route from Leatherhead to Esher now goes through Oxshott, as it did for the London 2012 road race.

Once the riders in the mass-participation event have passed over Hampton Court Bridge, rolling road closures will be used for the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic wherever possible in Surrey to reduce the impact of road closures on residents and businesses through the day.

The 2014 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic has been awarded Hors Categorie status by the UCI, the international cycling federation, the second highest international classification for professional races. The increase in UCI ranking points and prize money means the race is certain to attract an even stronger field and more star names. The 2014 race will be over a 200km distance and the organisers have worked to create a more challenging route for the world’s best.

The main changes for the men’s pro race for 2014 include:

The event is now centred on Dorking with multiple circuits in the Surrey HillsTwo new climbs through Denbies Vineyard to Ranmore CommonIncludes the climbs of both Leith Hill and Box HillThe addition of Staple Lane

An extensive community engagement programme is underway with the London boroughs on the route and Surrey County Council to help residents and businesses along the routes plan ahead. This will include leaflet drops in May and July to 1 million+ residents and businesses along the routes, drop-in sessions for local people and community access plans.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “After last year’s roaring success, cyclists across London will be cheered to see the return of an event that has quickly established itself as an unmissable fixture. As well as bringing economic benefit to the capital, events such as Prudential RideLondon help to support our two-wheeled renaissance and I am confident this year’s event will be even bigger and better.”

“We have a great race in prospect on a fantastic route,” said Mick Bennett, Race Director of the Prudential RideLondon-Surrey Classic. “The success of last year’s race and the global television coverage means that the world’s best teams are very keen to compete in 2014.”

David Hodge, Leader of Surrey County Council, said: “Following our feedback asking the organisers to limit impact on residents and businesses, we’re pleased they’ve introduced several rolling road closures and focused the afternoon action around Dorking this year. We’re looking forward to another fantastic day of cycling in Surrey that will draw thousands of visitors to our towns and villages, raise millions for good causes and showcase our county to the world.”

The 2014 Prudential RideLondon festival of cycling begins on Saturday 9 August with Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle, a chance for all the family to enjoy cycling a traffic-free loop on closed roads through central London. Later that day, the Prudential RideLondon Grand Prix showcases top women’s professional races and the Olympic cyclists of the future in youth races for boys and girls in criterium races in and around St James’s Park.

The Prudential RideLondon festival of cycling was first held in August 2013. The inaugural event won six national awards for cycling innovation and event management in addition to generating £13.2 million in direct economic benefit and more than £21 million in media value from international broadcast.